Thanks for stopping by Anime Rants today! As Frieren draws toward its conclusion, the second exam for first-class mages continues. This exciting 26th episode serves as the finale of the second exam arc. Who will pass the test?

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Episode 26: The Height of Magic

It seemed like the previous episode implied that Fern’s powerful Zoltraak spell hit and destroyed the Frieren Replica. However, in reality, the Replica blocked the attack. Thus, the battle continues with Frieren and Fern fighting the impossibly strong Replica. Meanwhile, Denken and the others split up and spread out to fight the remaining Replicas. They would fight according to the information they shared about each other’s powers and worst potential match-ups.

Throughout the episode, the visual quality is consistently good, with some really nice shots here and there. The highlights were the scenes at the start of the episode and again toward the end, showing the colorful and dynamic battle with the Replica Frieren. The visuals are epic and the music matches perfectly. I watch this anime for the characters and themes, but it’s also gratifying to see when it showcases excellent audio-visual quality.

This episode is called “The Height of Magic” because of something that happens suddenly during the fight. Replica Frieren used some kind of attack on Fern, throwing her against the wall and slowly crushing her against it. Not only was Fern unable to defend herself or move, but she wasn’t even registering this attack as “magic.” The mana was completely undetectable. I could be wrong, but I think this spell might have been activated by eye contact. The Replica gave Fern a death stare right before the attack.

In order to use this strange kind of magic, Replica Frieren left herself wide open. The real Frieren quickly took the opportunity and destroyed the Replica. She then told Fern that she hadn’t been forced to use that weird spell in eighty years, implying that its last use was against the Demon King. The magic in this universe is incredibly interesting. I’m always eager to learn more. As for Fern, she’s not too badly injured. She even smiles – hopefully because she’s proud of herself.

Fern and Frieren proceed to break the Spiegel’s crystal-like body, eliminating all the Replicas. Most of the other mages were then able to make their way down to the treasure room. Unfortunately, Lawine and Richter were badly wounded by Replica Sense, so there was no choice but to break their bottles and escape. In the end, twelve of the eighteen mages passed the test. Sense is happy to congratulate them all.

I skipped over what happened with Ubel because I wanted plenty of room to discuss it here at the end. In this episode, Ubel defeated the Replica Sense despite a huge gap in power and experience. It wasn’t even difficult. Ubel just cut the Replica to pieces with her sharp spear. According to Denken, Sense’s hair and her entire body were loaded up with defense magic. Furthermore, Sense is an experienced first-class mage, while Ubel is a relatively new third-class mage. So, how did the spearwoman achieve victory?

If I’ve understood correctly, the answer is that Ubel is capable of perfect visualizations of cutting things. Magic in this universe is all about visualizing in your mind’s eye what you will do. Without a good mental image, you won’t be able to pull off a spell. But mages don’t usually have the ability to visualize perfectly. Ubel can’t do that in general, either – only when it comes to cutting things with her spear and spell combo. Even limited like this, Sense compared Ubel’s ability to a superpower. It’s that impressive.

This unique power is fascinating to me, as is Ubel’s character as a whole. I already loved her after finding out about her spell-stealing ability using empathy. Now I like her even more than before. Ubel is probably my favorite character in Frieren. Though she isn’t the most likeable or relatable to me, she’s the most interesting from a psychological standpoint. I do love characters with unusual psychology! That concludes my thoughts on this episode.

~Thank you for reading~

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PATREON